We took kotlet and flasks of tea to Plessey Woods for Sizdah Bedar in April 2025. Cyrus and his friends spent much of the afternoon in the stream, which is one way to spend spring in Northumberland.
The water was cold, but Cyrus and his friends were splashing about in it while we sat drinking tea. We’d come to Plessey Woods for Sizdah Bedar, the day families head outdoors at the end of the Persian New Year celebrations. The children had taken to that part without any difficulty.
I’d walked these paths during lockdown, when the woods were quiet and we sometimes saw deer peering out from the undergrowth. This time, families were out enjoying the sunshine and children were calling to one another through the trees. In April in the North East, you take the sunshine when you can get it.
Our sabzeh had come with us too. These are the green shoots we grow for the haft-sin table at Nowruz, usually from lentils or wheat. Cyrus has helped grow the sabzeh at home, so he knows it starts with a dish of seeds on the windowsill.
Persian kotlet and a flask of tea
We ate Persian kotlet with warm flatbreads and poured tea from flasks. I was happy sitting and chatting while the children played nearby, although their shrieks carried well enough across the water to keep us informed.
When we released the sabzeh into the stream, children from another group tried to fish it out. They didn’t know why we’d put it there, and a clump of greenery drifting past was enough to attract their attention. We explained that letting it go was part of our New Year tradition.
The shoots stand for growth and renewal on the haft-sin table, and the custom of releasing them into running water is associated with leaving misfortune behind. I watched ours turn in the current until I couldn’t see it any more.
When it falls. Sizdah Bedar takes place on 13 Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar. In 2025, it fell on 2 April.
What it celebrates. Also known as Nature Day, it marks the close of the Nowruz festivities. Families and friends get together outdoors for picnics and games.
The sabzeh custom. Traditionally, the shoots from the haft-sin table are released into running water. Customs and their meanings vary between families.
We released our sabzeh into the stream in 2025. If you visit now, please take yours home for suitable disposal and keep plant material out of the water. The Countryside Code asks visitors to take rubbish and food waste home and avoid damaging or disturbing nature.
Spring, with muddy trousers
On the walk back, there were new leaves on the trees and patches of blossom along the paths. The sun kept coming through the clouds and the children had muddy trousers after an afternoon splodging about in the stream. They hadn’t seemed bothered by the cold water.
I like being able to do this with Cyrus. H grew up with Persian traditions and I came to them as an adult, but our son is growing up with them here. For him, Sizdah Bedar includes Plessey Woods and his friends playing in the stream.
If you are planning your own picnic, check current opening arrangements, facilities and parking with Northumberland County Council before travelling.
If you celebrate Sizdah Bedar in Britain, where do you take your picnic?
More from our British-Persian family
My first Sizdah Bedar in the North East
My introduction to the tradition, with H and eight-month-old Cyrus in Derwent Valley.
Two fish, an unexpected aquarium purchase and seven years of family life.
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